In the Huang-Ti grave at the South Gate lived a Demon called Jade Lute, a friend of Daji. They had not seen each other for a long time and so when Jade Lute came to the capital to visit Daji, the latter was very happy and they enjoyed themselves day and night in the palace. As a demon, Jade Lute was used to eating human flesh and unable to refrain herself for a long time, every night she would kidnap the palace servants and devour them.

One day, she bid farewell to Daji and made herself invisible as she returned to her cave. On her way, she passed by Ziya’s shop and heard people praising his talents in divination. She thought: “What a cheater! What is so good about his divinations? Let me take the human form and test him.” She transformed herself into a young woman and called out to Ziya: – Master, please give me a reading for my fortune.
Ziya quickly sensed the odd evil energy emanating from her face. He grinned and thought to himself: “Vicious ghost, how dare you come here and irritate me? If I do not eliminate this demon, how can I prove my superior talent?”

Ziya said to Jade Lute: “Let me see your hand.” As she gave him her hand, he held her wrist tightly and pressed hard on her pulse, using his magic so that she could not transform herself and disappear; picking up a stone ink slab he struck a heavy blow on her head, causing her to bleed profusely. Jade Lute uttered a big scream and struggled frantically. The crowd of clients was indignant and furious at Ziya. At that time, the King’s first minister Bi Gan came by on his horse. Seeing the commotion, he stopped and inquired about the incident. The people reported, “That old fortune teller has broken the law by taking advantage of fortune telling to hold the woman’s hand. She resisted him and he used force to strike and injured her with the ink pot”.

Bi Gan looked at the unconscious woman lying on the ground and told Ziya: “You have beaten this woman to death already. What else is there for you to still hold her hand?
Ziya said, “No, she is only faking it. This woman is a demon. I cannot release my hold lest she disappears and I will no longer have any evidence of my innocence. Even if you behead me without looking into the matter, I still won’t release her.

Commentary

The author of this article has personally witnessed numerous cases of demonic possession, treated by various monks and priests, and has directly participated in exorcisms. Some of these incidents I performed were observed by scores of people, while a few created significant public uproar in entire provinces, stirring discussions among local communities. Each case of demonic possession exhibits its own unique characteristics, including demons speaking through the possessed, physical torment of the patients, manipulation of their responses, and interactions with the monks or priests treating them. These aspects are marked by distinct, intriguing, and dynamic features. Most importantly, the significance of each possession case varies, influencing the consciousness of the patients, their families, and others who have encountered them in vastly different ways.

Covering all typical possessions within the confines of this article is impractical; a dedicated book on the subject would be necessary for thorough exploration. This chapter serves as a summary of specific exorcism-related issues mentioned in the Bible and offers practical guidelines derived from the author’s personal research and experimentation. These insights are compared with classic biblical perspectives on the subject. The following are Biblical stories about demon possession:

Story 1: The Demon tempted Jesus Christ

Then the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness for the devil to tempt him. After He fasted forty days and forty nights, He became hungry. The tempter came and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” Then the devil took Him into the holy city and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written: He will command his angels concerning you, and on their hands, they will bear you up… Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give you, if you fall and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, you shall worship the Lord, your God, and serve him only.” Then the devil left Him and the angels came and began to minister to Him (Matthew 4: 11).

Story 2: Two possessed persons in Gadara

Jesus was on another rim in the country of Gadara. He met two persons who were possessed by the devil. They shouted, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”

Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. The demons said to him, “If you are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” He said to them, “Go!” and they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters (Matthew 8:28-30).

Story 3: A mute person possessed by evil

As they were going out, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Him. After the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” But the Pharisees were saying, “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons” (Matthew 9:32).

Story 4: Jesus gave the power of exorcism to the twelve disciples.

Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness (Matthew 10:1).

Story 5: Jesus treated the demon-possessed person.

Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him so that the mute man spoke and saw. But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Therefore, I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, shall not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matthew 12:22-32).

Story 6: Jesus healed a lunatic.

When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill, for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. I brought him to your disciples, and they could not cure him.” And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith” (Matthew 17:14-20).

Story 7: Jesus exorcised the devil.

Just then, there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are the Holy One of God!” And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” Throwing the man into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” Immediately, the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding districts of Galilee (Mark 1:23-28).

Story 8: The devil revealed the identity of Jesus.

Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall before Him and shout, “You are the Son of God!” And He earnestly warned them not to tell who He was (Mark 3:11).
Story 9: The possession of the man from Gerasene

Immediately, a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, and no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces. Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; and shouting in a loud voice, he said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore you by God, do not torment me!” And Jesus asked, “What is your name?” He answered him: “My name is Legion; for we are many” (Mark 5:2-8).

Story 10: The demons talked about Jesus

The demons were coming out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But rebuking them, He would not allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ (Lucas 4:41).

Story 11: The story of Job.

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. Then Satan said to the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? “You have blessed the work of his hands and his possessions and given him many wives and children. But put forth your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse you to your face.” The LORD said to Satan, “all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him” (Job 1:6-12). Satan started his test on Job. Soon, the robbers took the oxen, the donkeys, and the camels, and killed the servants. The fire burned up the sheep, and his sons and daughters died when the house collapsed on them.

In those challenging events, Job has proved himself worthy of God when he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1-21)

Then Satan has God’s permission to test Job again. He smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes. Still, Job did not curse God. And God rewarded him with twice his property and he was praised for his loyalty (Job 2: 7-10).

From biblical evidence of demons’ possessions, and the mythical book The Investitures of the Gods, the writer of this essay will present some principles relating to the invisible realm that are related to the method of exorcism that he has personally experienced, observed, and systematized:

1. The Demon devouring the maidservants (Eastern style ghost story), and Dracula sucking human’s blood (Western style ghost story) is pure fiction.
   The fact that Jiang Ziya strikes a blow to the sprite’s head, making it bleed profusely is against the principle of mysticism. It is a stupid action of an ignorant person.

2. To say that the ghost appears in human form to have a reading in front of the crowd is incorrect and against the principle of mysticism. The students of the esoteric can see ghosts, spirits, and demons with their “third eye” while other people cannot. It would be more correct to say that the demon has possessed a woman’s body and led her to see the fortuneteller.
3. Satan played the role of an examiner to test Jesus and Job as well as the religious leaders and disciples in later times. In story 1 (Matthew 4), “The Spirit led Jesus to a deserted field to be tempted. After being tested three times the devil left Jesus and the angels came to minister to him.” The story of Job pointed out clearly that God gave a secret order allowing Satan to test Job’s faith in God. Those are the three tests from Heaven for the religious disciple in which the examiner is a Deity called Satan.
4. A person can be possessed by evil spirits and later have Saints or angels works miracle through him/her at the same time. In reality, there is only one character playing both roles, and that is the Holy Spirit in charge. The scenario of Jesus being taken to the deserted field by the Holy Spirit and later being possessed by Satan who led him to the top of the temple, and took him to the mountain to tempt him, all of this can be performed by a single divine messenger entrusted by God.
5. Satan knows the mission of Jesus in this world while worshippers and the people are still completely ignorant of him. As stated in the story: the possessed person in Gerasenes (Matthew 8:28) and other cases of possession Mark 1:23, 5:2, and Luke 4:40), “the demons indicated to the people the mission of Jesus: He is the Saint of God, the Son of God, and the Christ.”
   The demon itself was the Holy Spirit playing the role of Satan to enhance the prestige of the Messenger sent by Heaven and to introduce him to the people.
   This case coincides with the famous Buddhist teaching, “Outsiders and ghosts are the appearances of Bodhisattvas.”

6. In real life, possessed persons can be made to climb trees, fall into rivers, run many miles, cross immense fields, gesticulate frantically with arms and legs, pound their chest with their fists, destroy furniture and altars, and curse the dishonest, hypocrite monks and priests. They usually suffer terrible headaches, cannot talk, and have colic, seizures, or paralysis, etc. Their families often have to use chains to restrain them, giving them tranquilizers or taking them to a mental hospital. Story 9 (Mark 5:4) accurately describes the case of a man who was controlled by an evil spirit and broke his chains and shackles to come outside. Story 6 (Matthew 17:14): the possessed person is an epileptic and often made to fall into the fire and the water; story 3 (Matthew 9:32): the possessed person is made to be mute and “become speechless”; and in story 5:” the evil spirit causes the person to be blind.
7. Before exiting from the possessed person, the evil spirit used to knock the person to the ground, or pass their hands on their face, clap their hands, and make loud noises before returning the person to normal. As in story 7: “The Devil knocked down the dead, yelled out loud, and got out of him.”
8. Many entities can possess one person at one time, as shown in story 9 (Mark 5:9): “The Devil said, ‘My name is Legion because there are many of us.’”
9. If the evil spirit can possess a human being, it can also possess animals such as cows, snakes, turtles, tigers, butterflies, etc. Many cases have taken place in real life, as seen here in story 9 (Mark 5:13): “The devil got in the herd of pigs that jumped out into the sea.”
10. The Spirits who possess a person to encourage good deeds and to perform miracles are called Holy Spirits (angels). The Spirits who possess those with bad karma (involving cruel actions) to punish them or make them insult the arrogant and stupid monks – or to enhance the prestige of the true monk or priest are called evil spirits (demons).

11. The persons with many bad karmas (sinful) or the religious persons without merits, who are arrogant, self-centered, or who follow the dark path often meet with ghosts and demons and if necessary, the Spirits could destroy their bodies if they do not listen to reason. Thus, the ancient sages were very correct in saying: “Devils and Gods respect virtuous people.” The Devils are indeed the heavenly army of the Supreme Being whose mission is to punish the violators of Heaven’s Laws but who admire the ones with great righteousness and generosity.
12. In story 6, the disciples of Jesus had been given the power to cast out evil spirits but had failed to do so in a particular case, so they came and asked Jesus about it. Jesus answered that it was because they had little faith In reality, there are other factors besides faith: The Holy Spirit wanted the disciple to submit themselves fully to Jesus, who was entrusted by God to preach religion at that time – The disciples did not have enough virtue – The Holy Spirit wanted them to be humble and prevented them from spiritual pride whenever they used the powers in serving religion and assured that they would bring glory to God’s name through performing miracles.

In summary, the person who understands the principles of Mysticism and applies them correctly in the religious path (abides by Heaven’s laws) will have all the ghosts and demons (the Evil Axis) including the saints and angels (the Holy Circle) come to manifest themselves and to pay homage to him/her, because in reality Good or Evil are under the control of God’s Divinities (archangels).

The Holy Spirit would educate and teach a foolish and ignorant person, but if the latter does not understand the lesson and arrogantly offends the Holy Spirit, he would suffer the consequences which were mentioned in the Bible: “If a person hurts another person (Jesus), he will be forgiven. If he hurts the Holy Spirit, he will not be forgiven in this life and the next.”